TI Clean Mobility, part of the diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group, will unveil its electric three-wheelers and tractors under its Montra brand this year, a top company official said on Monday.
The company has earmarked Rs 200 crore for the new venture, which will manufacture its products locally to serve the domestic market initially
TI Clean Mobility, part of the diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group, will unveil its electric three-wheelers and tractors under its Montra brand this year, a top company official said on Monday.
TI Clean Mobility is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tube Investments of India, a Murugappa Group company.
The company has earmarked Rs 200 crore for the new venture, which will manufacture its products locally to serve the domestic market initially, Tube Investments of India Executive Chairman Arun Murugappan said here.
"As Montra electric vehicles are soon to be launched, the three-wheelers will be revolutionary products, a portfolio with many categories, distinctive and superior performance, and customer-centric advanced technology. Our company vision is to improve the quality of life through eco-friendly mobile solutions. Innovative, integrated and affordable solutions have taken up the front seat," he told reporters.
According to Murugappan, the electric three-wheeler market was expected to reach $1.7 billion by 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors globally.
"Electric three-wheelers are a great choice for any commercial as well as passenger last-mile applications. The three-wheeler EVs can reduce carbon emission by 13 tonne per 100 kms...," he said.
The company would produce 75,000 vehicles at its plant near Chennai in the first year. It will expand the capacity going forward and the vehicles will be in the passenger and cargo sector, he said.
"We have existing space in the cycle factory at Ambattur. The launch of these vehicles will be in all states in India, it will be in a phased manner.. the three-wheeler will be launched by end of August or September around that time," Murugappan added.
Declining to reveal the price of the vehicle, he said the company was having a distribution network in 40 locations and it would be expanded to 100 by the end of the year.
So far "price is concerned, we will announce it towards the launch date", he noted.
Asked about retaining the Montra brand, he said, "Montra is the brand that we already have. We have e-bikes under the Montra brand. We continue our Montra brand for the electric platform".
The initial outlay for the electric vehicle business is about Rs 200 crore, Murugappan noted.
"We have recently formed a subsidiary TI Clean Mobility to focus on the electric vehicle business. We are exploring more growth opportunities...we will be rolling out three products...
"This product has been in development for the last three years. It has been designed in-house...And we design this product exclusively based on the needs of customers and environmental concerns," he said.
Tube Investments of India has acquired Bengaluru-based Celestial, which makes electric tractors.
"We will be manufacturing electric tractors and three-wheelers and in the future, we will look for other platforms. Celestial Tractors is setting up a plant outside Chennai," he said.